Saturday, July 08, 2006

Introduction!

My name is Meaghan Quinn. I'm a webcartoonist and have been for about 6 years, drawing and writing my comic Eat the Roses, though lately I've acquired a writer. I've done other things too. I belong to Keenspot, have been on Modern Tales and Graphic Smash, have several good friends in webcomics, and am probably very biased. I'm also a feminist.

Once upon a time I wrote a column for Comixpedia called Webcomics are from Uranus. This is my continuation of that column, except less structured. I find I still have much to say about webcomics, particularily on the topic of gender or sex or whatever in webcomics.

To begin, let's start off with my basic views on feminism. Feminism is the default. Everyone is a feminist, and anyone who isn't has morality problems. Feminism at it's most basic, which is where most people are, is the idea that people are people and that's what comes first. Like I said, if you've got a problem with that, you're a jerk. Feminism isn't that women should rule the earth, or that men are bad, or anything like that.

With such a basic principle, it's amazing that there's anything more to say about this. Unfortunately, feminism hasn't been around nearly long enough to sink into most cultures to the exent that there aren't prejudices or patriarchal remnents sticking out that are rant-worthy. I seriously doubt any of the webcomics I'm going to discuss as problems here set out to demean women, but that doesn't mean they don't do stupid things.

Feminism is also about good writing. It's bad writing to write a female character as if "being female" is a characteristic, much as you have your hero, sidekick, and villan.

Feminism is about realizing that despite the open playing field in webcomics, most of the people on "top" (those making money off webcomics, or the most popular) are men. There are probably many reasons why, none of which have anything to do with women being slighted or not as good, but just because there's no one to blame doesn't mean you can't do anything about it. Bringing good webcomics created by women into the limelight, encouraging more girls and women to create and be interested in webcomics in the first place - none of these things do anything to harm guys, but advance equality. That's what I'm about.

And I'd better go at it, right?

ETA: Why is it called Webcomics are from Uranus? Number 1: it's "fart and dicks joke" crude humor. Number 2: Play on the whole Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus BS. Number 3: Webcomics is a strange beastie.